THE BELMONT FILTRATION | 
r ~ WORKS: 


BY 
JOHN W. HILL 


Reprinted from the JOURNAL OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE, 


January-March, 1904. 


PHILADELPHIA 


Reprinted from the Journal of the Franklin Institute, January-March, Igo4. 


Meebo ANTS LN INSEE: 


Stated Meeting, held Wednesday, October 21, 7903. 


The Belmont Filtration Works. 


av JOELN EW ERLE: 
Chief Engineer Bureau of Filtration, Department of Public Works, 
Philadelphia. 


The Belmont works for filtering the water supply of 
West Philadelphia, embracing the 24th, 27th, 34th and goth 
Wards, containing at the present timea population estimated 
at 170,000, are located on Belmont Avenue near the city line. 
The tract of land taken for these works contains 60°57 acres, 
lying partly north and partly south of Ford Road, between 
Belmont and Monument Avenues. Upon the land located 
north of Ford Road are placed the sedimentation and clear 
water basins, and on the land south of Ford Road are placed 
the plain sand filters and preliminary filters. Enough land 
south of the plain sand filters is unoccupied and reserved 
for the construction in the future of eight more filters of 
the same effective sand area as those now built. 

The agitation of an improved water supply for West 
Philadelphia was a strong factor in shaping and promoting 
the works which are now being constructed under the ordi- 

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2 


nances of Councils providing for the improvement, exten- 
sion and filtration of the water supply. 

As early as June, 1898, Councils passed an ordinance 
appropriating $3,200,000 for the improvement of the water 


562000. 


ABMS MME EE Ke 


520000 | 
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480000 


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440000|____| ina al 4 } or 4 ae! + sael) 
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«o000|_| _| | Population Diagram om ii 
oh, ay : 
<00000|__| peal) West Philadelphia f 
360000|__ + 4 | | | + + + see b eee 
HH | 
360000} | jell eee le 
n Lauation for curve snowing rate of increase of population yn= 7X 1+3 5833 decades (550 106 ut 
34Q000|. S| | | Wote fate of increase of population ml zal: le i | 4 
£ taken from percentage curve ; 
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280000, ete ub he ey 
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| y £27056 


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7860 7870 7860 7890 7909 7910 1920 1930 1940 7950 
Years 


Fic. 1.—Diagram showing population of West Philadelphia. 


supply, and mainly through the exertions of Hon. Edward 
W. Patton, member of Councils from the 27th Ward, a pro- 
vision was incorporated in the ordinance that at least 
$500,000 of this amount should be applied to the improve- 


3 


ment of the Belmont Works. The actual outlay for West 
Philadelphia, including land and the extension of the pipe- 
distribution system, will be over $4,000,000. 


BRORUTBASEIOING 


West Philadelphia, as shown by the census enumerations 
from 1860 to 1900, inclusive, has been growing at a greater 
rate than that portion of the city lying between the Dela- 
ware and Schuylkill Rivers, and as a preliminary step in 
determining the capacity of the works of filtration required 
for the present and future supply of this section of the city, 
a careful study of the past and prospective growth of popu- 
lation was made. 

By inspection of the diagram (/7g. 7) it will be seen that 
from a population of 23,738 in 1860, it has grown to 148,371 
in 1900, and by plotting the mean annual rate of growth for 
each census decade, and drawing a smooth curve through 
the points on the diagram, the smoothed rates of growth 
from 1860 to 1950, stated as the -mean annual increase, are 
as follows: 


RemCent: 
e189 oad ye oA y oh Berga or Batt ye eae a Sa PR A eR i per: 
TSS JR een tee at AW ee MN ca i oS sl aa hee ‘aces Meh e s 6°03 
ECE) ry ae Meet et Cee iar hts UR ik A os wgls, ee pile e ante aU 4°95 
ESOC Melt cy aM aCe PC Ont vey Veer pea) CS yin MLK, eos Uk seals 4°20 
LOCO MEIN Th Sante Mh ter on Ree RAS ek Maes Sere Gite, co cella 3°64 
LO Omran Be ee ee Reman Pings nes ewe ere fees Mame ys ert ye ol otted 3°22 
Hepler doce ten doo hes Were yl Maker led OS Se Oo aCe RM TIE Ala te 2°88 
LO) CVG ee ce Meee OR WE MCU N McG Nen, y Pavia teaul age eel” es FeDc yee ote 2°63 
ROAO Diets etic Coomassie ase foe teens Wd oved Po dusels ord oye bela cath aie 2°39 
a Xah Soc, Bee ewe &; Caper ee ine Ete ee emt nee Sieg or eee 2°20 


Corresponding to the following future populations: 


EQI Oar te ag CR ees) Bae Ne ed oe) La Taiaiead oe, TAs U's ay) Oren Re Uh me 203,699 
TG 20 that ee ak ay Pe QB SM, DAL SORE STAT Vee ore oak RCA SL ea 270,582 
Reiley cg CMe aus a aie ce BEA Cen ys areee MIO =e ec me 350, 106 
1 GAO Mr MMe tetera ai gery corr! ene Poe BS cae, Ws To wee ts 443,373 
C50) See em ee MMAR aren ans Oh me erat cal eR ohy os co. wahila, Pots 551,162 


Upon a basis of 150 gallons of water per capita per day 
the consumption of water for each ten years of the next 
five decades should run about as follows: 


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Gallons Per Day. 


EMSRS! CO A meade ao bout tg av. BS ip Greet Bae enn a oe 30,554,800 
TO 2G teem ecient del a th ae A alias! vagal 2, « 40,637,300 
TORO Pears wee Fe eases oe fat ee es torr, Ketan ees ot Aes Rie 52,515,900 
TA Ogee ema ener eer ae ci ln terse ters oo. Wicea a oi sty nN e al ey 6 66,506,c00 
ee Gee Se fa EY, Tg Ue Ga es de ek eet oar 82,674,300 


The present consumption of West Philadelphia is, as an 
average, 185 gallons per capita per day, and if steps are not 
taken to reduce the unnecessary and avoidable waste of 
water, the consumption by 1950 will reach over 100,000,000 
gallons per day, or about the ultimate capacity of the Bel- 
mont works. 

In the report of the Expert Commission appointed by 
Mayor Samuel H. Ashbridge, May, 1899, it is stated that the 
least flow of the Schuylkill River has been shown to be 
about 150,000,c0o0 gallons in twenty-four hours, and that it 
was thought prudent to not exceed this quantity as the 
maximum daily consumption of water from this source. 

Apportioning this consumption of Schuylkill River water 
between West Philadelphia and Roxborough, it has been 
assumed that if the present rate of consumption is main- 
Baie Cm rReSeu CWOeMGisttiCts-wwille Treqitire respectively 
100,000,000 gallons and 50,000,000 gallons per day within the 
next fifty years—the entire allowable quantity which, accord- 
ing to the experts’ report, should be drawn daily from the 
Schuylkill River. 


PRINCIPAL, DETAILS. 


The Belmont Works consist of two subsiding basins, 
each containing at flow line about 36,000,000 gallons of water, 
which, at the present rate of consumption, represents 2°40 
days’ sedimentation of the water before it is drawn from the 
basins; eighteen plain sand filters, in part modeled after the 
filters at Berlin, Warsaw and St. Petersburg, and in part 
after the newer filters at Hamburg; a system of prelimi- 
nary filters adapted at a rate of 80,000,000 gallons per acre 
per day, to deal with 40,000,000 gallons of water daily, and 
a clear water basin, 15 feet in depth, with a capacity of 
16,500,000 gallons; eight hopper sand washers, patterned 
after the washers in use at the Hamburg filters; an admin- 


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istration building and pumping station; centrifugal pump- 
ing machinery to supply wash water to the preliminary fil- 
ters; direct acting plunger pumps to supply water under 
pressure to the sand washers; steam boilers for power and 
heating the buildings, and an electric lighting equipment. 

Considering the chief features of the works, zg. 2 shows 
the location of the sedimentation reservoir, preliminary fil- 
ters, plain sand filters, the clear water basin and the admin- 
istration building. 

Belmont Avenue, as will be noticed from the meridian 
symbol, has a nearly north and south direction. With this 
explanation it will be seen that the sedimentation reservoir 
occupies the land bounded on the west by Belmont Avenue, 
on the north by City Avenue and Overbrook Avenue, and 
on the south by Ford Road. The preliminary filters 
are located at the intersection of Belmont Avenue and Ford 
Road. The plain sand filters are located along the east side 
of Belmont Avenue, the south side of Ford Road, and the 
west side of Monument Avenue, and the clear water basin 
at the intersection of Ford Road and Monument Avenue. 
The unoccupied land, which is shown with contours south 
of the plain sand filters, is reserved for an addition of eight 
filters of the same general dimensions as those shown. The 
small rectangles, of which there are eight, shown in the court 
between the filters, indicate the location of the sand 
washers. Between the preliminary filters and the group of 
six filters on Belmont Avenue is placed the administration 
building and boiler and pump rooms. 


SEDIMENTATION RESERVOIR. 
(Contract No. 16.) 


The sedimentation reservoir consists of two divisions, or 
basins, each 25 feet deep, measured at the flow line, eleva- 
tion, 279'00 C. D., and 29 feet deep from the top of embank- 
ment, elevation 283:°00 C. D. The area of the east division 
at the flow line is 5°43 acres, and at the floor line 3°47 acres. 
The area of the west division at the flow line is 5°33 acres, 
and at.the floorsline 3:0272acres.. “hhesinsidesandmoutside 
slopes are, at all points around the basins, two horizontal to 
one vertical. 


9 


Top width of embankment, 18 feet; width at toe of inner 
slope, 134 feet. The east division was constructed about 
equally of cut and embankment, while the west division, 
excepting the embankment along Ford Road, was nearly 
all in excavation, some of which was quartzlike trap rock. 
The materials of excavation consisted of clay, micaceous 
rock, sand, gravel and hard rock, the latter requiring drilling 
and blasting for its removal. 

In making embankments, the best materials of excava- 
tion were placed next the inner slope, and all materials were 
rolled in thin layers. When the excavation in rock discov- 
ered fissures, these were filled with grout, and the irregular 
surfaces of the rock in the floors, and slopes leveled up to 
sub-grade partly with concrete and partly with clay puddle. 

In preparing the ground for rolled embankment for the 
sedimentation reservoir the top soil was first thoroughly 
stripped off and the inclined ground stepped in horizontal 
terraces. 

The reservoir embankments and the fill under the filters 
on Monument Avenue were rolled with four 25-horse-power 
traction engines weighing 10 tons each, or 3,300 pounds per 
foot width of roller wheels, two 18-horse-power traction 
engines weighing approximately 8 tons each, or 3,000 pounds 
per foot width of roller wheels, and one 10-ton traction roller, 
manufactured by the Julius Scholl Company of New York. 
All rollers were grooved. 

In the original plan of the reservoir, as shown in NN oe 
the inner slopes were constructed with a berm at an eleva- 
tion of 12°7 teet above the finished floors of the basins, and 
the upper slope set back a distance of five feet to receive a 
granite block paving to be set dry, and backed with broken 
stone. This was intended asa protection to the puddle lin- 
ing from frost, but further consideration of this feature of 
the construction raised doubt of its utility, and it was 
omitted in finishing the basins. Each division of the reser- 
voir is lined on the floor and slopes with 18 inches of clay 
puddle, on which is placed a 6-inch course of concrete. On 
the concrete to within a vertical depth of 10 feet from the 
water line is placed a 3-inch mixture of asphalt, asphaltic 


IO 


mastic and grit. /zg. 5 shows the height on the slopes of 
the asphalt lining. 

In the division wall between the two basins, which is 
constructed partly in excavation and partly of embankment, 
are placed two equalizing or pass pipes, which, when the 
valves are opened, maintain a uniform elevation of water 
surface in both divisions of the reservoir. Each of these pipes 
is supplied with a floating inlet pipe, which receives the 
water at the surface of the reservoir and conducts it to the 
pass pipe and thence to the opposite side of the division 
wall, where itis discharged at the bottom of the basin. The 
equalizing pipes, and the influent and effluent pipes, are 
placed in trenches provided with concrete cut-off walls, the 
Spaces between which, under, around and over the pipes, 
are packed with well-rammed puddle. 

fig. 4 shows the 48-inch diameter influent pipe in the east 
division of the reservoir, into which is connected, at theangle 
near the centerof the basin, the equalizing pipe from the west 
division of the reservoir. The influent pipe crosses the 
basin diagonally from the southwest to the northeast cor- 
ner, and terminates in a set of fourteen 48-inch tees and one 
48-inch elbow, with the branches turned slightly upward 
from the horizontal, as shown. ‘The line of pipe and special 
castings are supported on low brick piers set on the asphalt 
lining of the floor. By means of the arrangement of shown 
pipes, the water from the Schuylkill River at the Belmont 
Pumping Station is passed diagonally from end to end and 
from the bottom to the surface of the water in each division 
of the sedimentation reservoir. It is thus hoped that currents 
having a tendency to carry the heavier suspended matter 
out of the reservoir, will be avoided. 

In the line of each influent pipe is placed a 48-inch check 
valve, made by the Ludlow Valve Company of Troy, New 
York. Each of these check-valves weighs about 32,000 
pounds. 

The subsided water is conducted from either division of 
the reservoir to the screen-chamber, and thence to the pre- 
liminary filtersthrough floating pipes, one of which is shown 
lying on the floor tothe left of the effluent chamber in 


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fig. 5. This pipe, 48 inches diameter, is made of galvan- 
ized sheet-iron, attached at the lower end to a 48-inch swiv- 
eling tee, mounted in bronze bearings, and at the upper 
end by flexible connections to a float which consists of a 
galvanized sheet-iron, water-tight cylindrical barrel, which 
allows the mouth of the pipe to be submerged a few feet 
below the surface of the water. 

Should the floating pipe for any reason fail to act, water 
can be drawn through either of the three sluice gates shown 


Fic. 6.—Sedinientation reservoir. Gate-house. 


on the inside face of the effluent chamber, each being pro- 
vided with a compound geared gate-stand on the top of the 
effluent chamber. 

In the gate-house, /zg. 6, are placed eleven 48-inch diam- 
eter Ludlow stop-valves, which control the flow of water 
into and out of the reservoir, each of which is provided with 
a compound geared gate-stand and extension stem to operate 
from the floor of the house. The gate-house, when the 
works are completed, will have a frontage on the north 
property line of Ford Road sufficiently elevated above the 


13 


grade of the street to make a neat and pleasing feature of 
the works. 

The plan of the influent and effluent pipes where they 
pass through the gate-house, is such that the raw water may 
be delivered entirely into one division of the reservoir and 
drawn from the other; or may be delivered into and drawn 
from each division at the same time; or one basin can be 
cut out of service entirely; or one of the two supply pipes 
entering the gate-house from the left, will supply into both 
or either division of the reservoir, and likewise the sub- 
sided water can be directed into either of the two lines of 
48-inch effluent pipes shown at the bottom of /7g. 7. 

The two lines of rising pipe which bring the water from 
the Belmont Pumping Station to the gate-house are each 
36 inches in diameter. 

In the upper part of the gate-house is constructed a room 
for the reservoir watchman, access to which is had by means 
of a spiral iron staircase. 

All the joints in the gate-house, excepting the last joint 
in each line of pipe, are made with flanges and bolts and 


gaskets. 
PRELIMINARY FILTERS. 


(Contract No. 38.) 


Fig. § shows in place the first installation of prelimi- 
nary filters, placed in the center of the ground lying between 
Ford Road on the north and plain sand filter No. 6 on the 
south. 

South of the first installation of filters, ground is reserved 
for an addition of 25,000,000 gallons daily capacity, and 
NOLL MOM Le: tirst set OLehiters, space 31s left, fora further 
addition of 30,000,000 gallons daily capacity, or an ultimate 
aggregate daily capacity of 95,000,000 gallons. 

In the arrangement of the 48-inch main pipes to conduct 
the water to and from the preliminary filters, provision has 
been made for the necessary influent and effluent connec- 
tions to the future installations, and to admit of these con- 
nections being made without interrupting the service of the 
first set of preliminary filters. 

Connection of the two 36-inch rising mains in Belmont 


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Avenue with the main influent pipe of the preliminary 
filters, is also made to admit of the pumping of water direct 
to the filters at any time when it might be necessary to take 
the sedimentation reservoir temporarily out of service 
Likewise, if for any reason it might become necessary to 
take the preliminary filters temporarily out of service pro- 
vision has been made to draw water direct from the subsiding 
basins to the plain sand filters. 

As a measure of economy in the operation of the works, 
and to attain the highest possible efficiency in filtration of 
the water, the system of operation should consist of limited 
subsidence in the sedimentation reservoir, preliminary fil- 
tration, and final filtration. 

The preliminary filters, as planned by the Bureau of 
Filtration, /zgs. 9 and so, consist of twenty concrete tanks 
each 60 feet long, 20 feet wide, 8 feet 6 inches deep. In the 
bottom -ofecachatank-isefirsty placed 12 inches of: oravel; 
ranging in size from 24 inches to + inch in diameters, and 
above this a layer of 30 inches of coarse sand, consisting of 
erains which will pass a No. 6 sieve and be retained on a 
No. 30 sieve. Such sand will be coarser and of more nearly 
uniform grain than that used in the plain sand filters. 

The water from the subsiding basins is introduced at the 
top of the filter and percolates at a high rate downwards 
through the bed of coarse sand to the layer of underdrain 
gravel at the bottom, through which it flows in many streams 
tora mainecollector placed) in» the center of the filter, and 
thence out of the filter over a measuring and regulating weir 
to an open duct built of concrete, which in turn conducts the 
rough filtered water to the 48-inch cast-iron supply pipe of 
the plain sand filters. 

At the level of the gravel under-drains is placed a system 
of wash pipes consisting of two lines of 12-inch main pipe, 
from each of which 2-inch branch pipes placed on 8-inch cen- 
ters extend right and left under the sand bed to the opposite 
main pipe and side walls of the tank. The main pipes and 
branch pipes are perforated on the upper side. Water 
under a head of fifty feet will be used to wash the sand bed 
by reverse current, or rather by forcing the wash water from 

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below upwards in the same manner as in several types of 
the mechanical filter, excepting that the wash-water pipes 
are not effluent pipes, as they are in the mechanical filter 
when operating under normal conditions. Overflow troughs 
are placed around the filter tank at an elevation about 12 
inches above the level of the sand bed, adjustable as to 
height. These troughs receive the wash water and conduct 
it out of the filter to a waste gullet of concrete placed in 
front of the filters. 

From an experience of eighteen months with an expert- 
Menta lminecwaniCaleiuitermrortecem diameters aratic, spring 
Garden Testing Station, in use for part of the time without 
agitation of the sand bed with rakes or by other means, 
it is thought that mechanical agitation of the sand bed of 
the preliminary filters while washing is not essential, and 
that a washing daily, or as often as the loss of head in the op- 
eration of the filter may show to be necessary, with the occa- 
sional removal from the tank and washing of the sand in 
hopper washers, will restore the sand bed to its normal con- 
dition at less cost of operation and with less chance of inter- 
rupting the work than by the use of mechanical agitating 
devices, or with agitation by means of compressed air. 

The principles of construction and operation of the pre- 
liminary filters are essentially the same as that of the plain 
sand filters, excepting the filtering materials are coarser and 
the sand bed will not be scraped periodically, but washed bya 
current of water from below upwards daily, or as often as 
may be required, and the rate of percolation will be main- 
tained at about fourteen times the rate af percolation 
adopted for the plain sand filters. 

The purpose of the preliminary filters at Belmont, and at 
the other works forming part of the improvement of the water 
supply, is three-fold: Primarily to enable the plain sand fil- 
ters to operate at a higher rate than has heretofore been em- 
ployed and correspondingly reduce the acreage of filter sur- 
face required to treat the whole water supply. Next, to pro- 
long the life or rather to increase the yield of the plain sand 
filter between scrapings from 60,000,000 or 70,000,000 gallons 
per acre to from 90,000,000 to 150,000,000 gallons per acre, 


20 


and finally to maintain a more regular effluent than is pos- 
sible with the plain sand filter when supplied with water 
which has been under either quiescent or continuous substi- 
dence for a day, or fora few days. 

The preliminary filters are intended to perform in a short 
time what could be accomplished only in a very long time 
by sedimentation reservoirs. 

The capacity of the Belmont preliminary filters is based 
upon arate of percolation equivalent to 80,000,000 gallons 
per acre per day, and at this rate nineteen of the twenty 
tanks will each furnish 2,200,000 gallons of rough filtered 
water, or pre filtered water, per day. 

In the operation of the preliminary filters, one filter con- 
taining only the gravel and underdrains will always be out 
of service,so that, when either of the filters becomes clogged 
with “mud balls” so as to demand a washing of the filter- 
sand, this sand will be thrown out of the filters by means of 
the ejector (presently to be described in connection with the 
removal of sand from the plain sand-filters) into a _ three- 
hopper ejector-washer and delivered from the washer into 
the. empty filter. Thus it will be-seen that the sand in 
transportation and washing will be worked from filter to 
filter, and, excepting at such times when one filter will be 
out of service for washing, and one filter receiving the 
washed material, there will always be nineteen filters in 
service, -1f1s sestimated that 1¢ willsrequire  aboutectont 
hours to remove and wash the sand and replace it in the 
empty filter. When the operation of washing by the hop- 
per-washers has been performed, the sand will then be in 
the same condition it was when the filter was first started 
in service. 

Experience at the Spring Garden Testing Station has 
shown that even with the addition of the revolving rake 
agitator the reverse current of water is not capable of 
thoroughly washing and preventing the formation of some 
“mud balls” in the body of the sand, excepting with a 
wasteful expenditure of water, and it is anticipated that the 
cost of prefiltering the water, including the washing and 
transportation of the sand by means of the sand-ejector and 


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ejector-washer, will be less than the cost of wash-water 
power and repairs to operate a filter with a mechanical 


agitator. 
PLAIN SAND FILTERS. 


(Contract No. 16.) 


fig. rz shows the eighteen plain sand filters now rapidly 
nearing completion under Contract No. 16. Six of these 
filters lie along Belmont Avenue, six along Ford Road, and 
six along Monument Avenue. The plan of the land taken 
by the city for the works rendered it impossible to maintain 
a standard of length and width of filter, as at Upper and 
Lower Roxborough, and generally at Torresdale, and, while 
the effective sand area is about the same for all filters, in 
planning the works it was found convenient to vary the 
relation of length and width to suit the ground. 

The horizontal. dimensions of the eighteen filters are 
given in the following table: 


DIMENSIONS OF FILTERS. 


Fei iters atz.— sae ee 242 feet 2 inches long, 135 feet 5 inches wide 
8 SS ek Lees ee 272 66 8 6 66 I20 ac 2 ce 6 
2 SL dre Shae ee 196 ce 5 66é ¢ 165 “6 Tel ae ce 


The contours of the land also was such as to make it 
inconvenient to locate all of the filters at common elevation, 
as at Upper Roxborough and Torresdale, and the terraced 
arrangement, through the six filters on Belmont Avenue, 
shown by /7g. 72, was resorted to. 

This involved a slight loss of head between the level of 
water in the sedimentation reservoir and in the clear-water 
basin, which was diminished as much as possible by rolling 
into fills on the ground at lower elevation, the excavation 
taken from the filters built on the ground at higher eleva- 
tion. 

The elevation of the normal flow-lines, or of water above 
the sand beds, is shown in the following tables: 


5 Filters, elevation..\.0.0. os lsh cet han a ee eee 248 22001), 
2m is a (eee me *o5; Wein OY, US Mon fond Aen 25034 on 
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25 


Difference of water surface between the highest and 
lowest filter, six feet. 

Since the level of water in the clear-water basin (for any 
system of terraced filters) must be adjusted to the flow-line 
of the lowest filters of the series, the apparent loss of head 
at Belmont is six feet; but to attempt the placing of all 
filters at a common elevation would have required the rais- 
ing of the fills under the filters at the lower levels, the 
materials for which could conveniently be obtained only 
from the excavation for filters at the higher levels, and the 
resulting common level of water surface in all filters would 
have been only about three feet higher than the water-level 
in the lowest level filter of the present series. ‘This, there- 
fore,is the true loss of head, against which the water is 
pumped from the Schuylkill River by reason of the terraced 
arrangement of filters at Belmont. That is to say, if all 
filters had been arranged at common water elevation, 251°33 
CrOrethe= Noweline sof the Sedimentation reservoir might 
hav enpecniinades276:00.8,)),..instead.of-270°00'C.D:; but the 
fixed charges on the increased cost of construction to accom- 
plish this were found to be much greater than the annual 
cost of pumping against the additional three feet head. 

The plain sand filter at Belmont, as shown by /7g. 13, is 
in plan a rectangle with a net area at the sand line of 0°735 
acre. 

By the longitudinal section through the filter it will be 
seen that the roof arches are carried on monolithic concrete 
piers 30 inches square at the base and 22 inches square at 
the top.of=the battered portion of the pier. “he battered 
section reaches to the proposed normal sand line. ‘The side 
and end walls have a width at base of 4 feet 2 inches, and 
at spring line of arch a width of 1 foot 1o inches. Division 
walls have the same dimensions in thickness as the piers. 

The floors consist of concrete inverts 15 feet 3 inches 
square, having a thickness of 6 inches at the center and of 
PAnuchbeswiudersthe piers, “lhe vaulting. ofzconcrete 1876 
inches thick at the crown, and normal to the arch curve 
about 15 inches thick at the spring line. The piers are 9 
feet 1 inch high, the rise or depth of arch of floor inverts at 


26 


center 8 inches, and rise of roof-arch at center 36 inches, 
making a total height from center of invert to center of 
soffit of arch 12 feet 9 inches. The clear span of roof-arches 
is 15 feet 5:inches: 

Under the floors and against the side and end walls of 
the filters, taken in groups of two, four, and six, clay puddle 
is placed as shown. The floor puddle was placed and rolled 
in two separate layers, each of 6 inches thickness when 
rolled in place. The puddle around the filters was carried 
1 foot higher than the nominal water line in the filters, and 
rammed in layers of from 4 to 6 inches in thickness. (The 
value of the puddle as a means of insuring watertightness 
of the filters will be shown hereafter.) 

The end walls of all filters, and side walls of the end fil- 
ters, were designed as abutments to transmit the arch thrust 
to the foundations. 

Each alternate bay of the filter is provided in the roof- 
arch with a round ventilator opening 36 inches in diameter. 
This is closed with a double iron plate cover, forming an 
air space between the two plates to prevent the frost from 
acting on the water or on the bared sandbed while it is 
being scraped in winter. In summer time it is desirable to 
have some of the ventilators open to prevent the air in the 
filters from becoming musty by the decomposing sewage 
solids intercepted at the surface of the sandbed. With open 
filters the musty condition of the air over and around the 
filters is not noticed, but with closed filters, excepting ven- 
tilation is provided, the air over the water becomes saturated 
with the gases of decomposition of sewage solids intercepted 
at the surface of the sandbeds, and ventilation is a necessity 
for the comfort and possibly for the health of the men 
required to enter the filters for scraping and removal of the 
fouled sand. 

Over ithe arches ofthe nlters at theccrowneaslaversole2d 
inches of earth is placed to protect the water and sandbed, 
when laid bare, from frost in the winter and to protect the 
water from the sun’s rays in summer. At the depressions 
in the arches over the piers is placed gravel or ballast to act 
asa “French” drain and collect the water from rainfall which 


alias 
mip 


may percolate through the earth filling over the vaulting 
and pass it down to the filter through the opening left in 
THemUaUNCHIeOlUiemat Cine | Ne oper surlace-of the earth 
filling is finished with a dressing of top soil and seeded. In 
due time the surface of the fill will have a turf which, if 
kept properly watered and trimmed, will make a pleasing 
feature of the landscape. 

Six lines of cast-iron waterpipe are shown to the left of 
the filter, arranged as follows: 

Influent pipe to supply water to the filters. 

Effluent pipe to conduct away the filtered water. 

Refill pipe to refill filters from below with filtered water 

after scraping the sandbed. 

Raw-water drain pipe to draw off the water figs above 
the sand line. 

Drain pipe to draw off the watery from below the sandbed 
and conduct it to the sewer. 

High-pressure pipe to supply water to the sand ejectors, 
and also to the sand washers in the courts. 

In addition to the cast-iron pipes enumerated a 36-inch 
circular brick sewer, for waste water from the filters, and 
from the sand washers, and storm water collected on the 
courts, is also Shown. 

At Belmont (with the exception of two filters) the regu- 
lator houses are arranged each to serve two adjacent filters. 
(See /2zg. 74.) The well or chamber under the regulator 
house is divided into a middle dry chamber and two side 
wet chambers. Inthe middle chamber are placed the pipes, 
stop-valves, and special castings, which connect the main 
influent and high-pressure pipes with the filters, the raw 
water drain to remove the water from above the sand line, 
and, as shown, near the bottom of the chamber, the main 
effluent pipes, which originate in the side chambers, and are 
brought togetherinto a tee at the center of the dry chamber. 
The influent and effluent pipes for each filter are provided 
with stop-valves to cut either out of service without inter- 
fering with the adjacent filter. 

In the wet chambers are placed the effluent pipes, drain- 
pipes to remove the water from below the sandbed and 


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waste it to the sewer, and the re-fill pipe to supply water to 
the filter from below upon starting after a filter has been 
scraped. 

Upon the main effluent pipe where it starts in the wet 
chamber, is placed an automatic telescoping circular weir, 
controlled in position with reference to the surface of the 
water in the chamber, by an annular copper float. This 
self-adjusting weir (which has its counterpart in the effluent 
chambers of the filters at Warsaw, Zurich, Bremen, and 
other places abroad) has its lip fixed at a definite depth 
below the surface of the water, and is not only an effective 
device to maintain a constant rate of flow of water from the 
‘filters, but when properly standardized becomes a reason- 
ably accurate meter for the measurement of the flow. 

The relation of the lip of the weir to the position of the 
float is adjustable, and it thus can be varied to produce any 
desired rate of percolation through the filter. 

Ingthe: early torm) of) the effluent weir: the Jtelescoping 
joint was made with a water-packed bronze gland; but 
experience at Roxborough has shown that it is impos- 
sible to produce drawn-brass pipes, 20 inches in diameter, 
so round or uniform in diameter as to admit of the use 
of the packing shown, and a leather packing, which will 
TeACil yma Usieitceli tO mtne: eccentricity -Ofs the sliding 
tube and to the inequalities of diameter, has been substi- 
tuted for the internally grooved bronze ring. The leather 
packings have worked admirably on the effluent regulators 
of the Roxborough filters, and, with the weir floating upon 
a constantly declining water surface, maintain, when 
adjusted, a practically unvarying rate of discharge from the 
filters. 

Some trouble has been experienced from the air whichis 
drawn into the column of water descending the telescoping 
pipe, and to remedy this defect in the construction of the 
feo uintorsmt lemieckSeatetnestOpran the txed barrels:or the 
regulators are being tapped and provided with pipes reach- 
ing to a few inches above the highest possible water level 
in the effluent chamber, to vent the air from the regulator 
barrel. A test of one of these air-vents at Upper Roxborough 


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seems to indicate that the trouble due to induction of air 
by the annular column of water flowing over the lip of the 
weir and down the telescoping pipe will be avoided in this 
manner. 

The sleeve, or jacket-pipe, outside the telescoping pipe is 
used to prevent the current of water flowing from the regu- 
lator from having a tendency to draw the telescoping pipe 
from its central position, and cause it to bind in the packed 
joint. 

Inside the filter on the end of the branch from the influ- 
ent main is placed an influent regulator (/7g. 15) to auto- 
matically maintain a constant depth of water over the sand- 
bed. ‘This consists of a plain double-seat disc-valve, nearly 
balanced, actuated by a cylindrical copper float. By the rise 
and fall of the float on the water in the filter-the valve is 
closed or opened and the rate of inflow of raw water main- 
tained nearly constant. This valve is in all material respects 
a copy of the influent regulators used on the Hamburg 
filters. 

WATER COLLECTORS AND FILTERING MATERIALS. 
(Contract No. 49.) 

In the center of each filter, at the bottom, as shown in 
Fig. 16, 1s placed a main water collector into which, at inter- 
vals of about fifteen feet, are connected the lateral collectors, 
to conduct the filtered water from the respective bays to the 
main collectors. 

The main collectors in filters Nos. 1 and 2 consist of a line 
of 30-inch diameter vitrified sewer pipe, provided at the 
center of each filter bay with a double 8-inch branch, into 
which the laterals are connected. ‘The main collectors in 
all other filters at Belmont were formed by placing concrete- 
steel reinforced slabs, 5 inches thick, over two low concrete 
Wiilcmiliiiettiethescenter Olfstierniter oor, Che cwalls are 
16 inches high, and average 134 inches thick, plumb on the 
inside and battered 3 inches on the outside, spaced 4 feet 
apart; the space between the walls and under the slabs con- 
stitutes the filtered water channel. These collectors were 
built in the filters after all other work, previous to placing 
the filtering materials, was done. 


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The lateral collectors, as shown by fig. 77, consist of a 
line of 8-inch diameter vitrified pipe, perforated all around 
from end to end, and plugged at the end of the line remote 
from the main collector. 

Around the collectors and for a height of 6 inches from 
the floor, is placed gravel, ranging in size from 3 inches to 
12 inches in diameter. 

Above this is placed a 4-inch layer of gravel, ranging in 
size from 12 inches to 2 inch in diameter. 

Above this is placed a 3-inch layer of gravel, ranging in 
size from 2 inch to # inch in diameter. 

Above this is placed a 2-inch layer of gravel, ranging in 
size from 4-inch diameter to material which would be re. 
tained on a sieve having fourteen meshes to the linear inch, 
and above this a final layer, one inch thick, of coarse sand, 
which would pass a No. 14 sieve and be retained on a No. 
20 sieve. 

The whole depth of underdrain gravel is therefore 16 
inches, measured from the center of the floor inverts. 

Three plans have been tested for the distribution of the 
underdrain materials, as follows: 

Plan “A,” fzgs. 16 and 78, shows the gravel everywhere 
kept from 20 to 24 inches clear of the masonry side and end 
walls, and piers of the filters. 

Plan “ B,” fzg. 76, in which the gravel is kept 24 inches 
clear of the side and end walls, but impinges against the 
Die re 

Piatee Cy diz ane which the oravel is spread shorizon- 
tally from wall to wall, and impinges against the piers. 

Plan “A” requires the least amount of gravel, but is most 
expensive for labor of placing, while plan “C” requires the 
largest amount of gravel, but is least expensive for labor 
of placing. 

So far as our experience has gone in the operation of the 
filters at Roxborough, neither plan has any preference over 
the other, although plan “‘A” appears to be the ideal system 
for the underdrains in covered filters, because water which 
might pass down between the bed of sand and the masonry 
of the walls or piers, could not possibly escape from the fil- 


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36 


ter without first passing laterally through the lower part of 
the sandbed. With open filters plan “B” will produce the 
same results. 

In a locality where materials are easily procured and 
cheap, a system of underdrains by plan “ C,” with carein the 
placing of the layers of sand in the sandbed, should meet 
every practical requirement. 

Above tlie gravel underdrains to a depth of 36 inches is 
placed the bed of filter sand. In placing the sand in a series 
of filters, some are filled to a depth of more than 36 inches, 
and some to a depth less than 36 inches, in order that the 
time of going out of service for resanding may not occur to 
more than one or two filters of a system at the same time. 
Thus, at Belmont, 

3 filters will receive the sand for a depth of 28 inches. 

3 filters for a depth of 31 inches. 

syolters fora depth ofsqunches. 

3 filters for a depth of 37 inches. 

3 filters for a depth of 4o inches. 

sail terest Otascepta Olena nchec 

An average depth for all filters of 35°5 inches. 

The original depths of sand before the water is intro- 
duced and the sandbed settled, is about 6 per cent. more 
than the depths given. 

In the thin beds the sand is placed in two layers, and in 
the thicker beds it is placed in three layers. 

After the sand has been placed to the proper depth, the 
filter is slowly filled with water from below until it fairly 
covers the sand, and the bed allowed to settle for a period 
of ten days or two weeks. Afterwards the water is drawn 
down, and the depth of the bed then taken. Care in placing 
the sand has reduced the shrinkage by water settlement to 
as low as 4 percent. That is, a bed originally 40 inches in 
thickness will shrink upon settling with water to slightly 
more than 38 inches, although the usual shrinkage amounts 
to about 6 per cent. of the original depth. 

The sand used may be river or bank sand, provided it is 
well washed, and complies with the following physical 
requirements: 


37 


No particles should be intercepted by a No. 6 sieve, and 
but few particles should pass a No, 60 sieve. Such sand, by 
Massachusetts State Board of Health standard, will have an 
effective size of about 0°35 millimeter, and a uniformity 
co-efficient of about 2°50. | 

Experience with the Roxborough filters indicates no 
material difference in the work of the filters supplied with 
river or bank sand, excepting that the river sand filters 
earliest give the best clarification of the water, and the 


Fic. 19 —Filter entrance and regulator house. 


bank sand filters earliest give the best bacterial results. 
After a few weeks of operation, however, it is difficult to 
detect any difference of performance which might be 
attributed to the source of the sand. 

The cleanliness of the filter sand when first placed must 
comply with the following requirements: 

When 100 grams of river sand are thoroughly shaken up 
in a beaker containing 1 liter of distilled water (or filtered 
water showing o + turbidity), the resulting turbidity of the 


38 


water shall not exceed 400 parts per million by the silica 
standard, and, when 100 grams of bank sand are similarly 
tested, it shall not show a turbidity of more than 200 parts 
per million by the silica standard. Sand shall show not 
less than 95 per cent. silica, calculated as oxide of silica, and 
not more than 1 per cent. of lime and magnesia taken 
together and calculated as carbonates. 

Bank sand being always lighter in color than river sand, 
has an advantage, when the filters are scraped, in striking 
a sharp line of division between the clean and dirty sand. 

Experience at Roxborough shows the sand scrapings to 
average about 1 inch in thickness, and the theory that a thin 
layer of sand at the surface of the bed does nearly, if not 
quite, the whole work is abundantly proven by the scrapings 
of these filters. 

Fig. 19 shows one of the regulator houses built over the 
influent and effluent chambers of the filters, and the entrance 
to a filter. The houses and filter entrances are uniform in 
design for all the filter works. Roman size brick has been 
used in all face work, and the best quality stretcher brick 
for inside linings. Cut stone, Eastern grey granite; terra- 
cotta belt courses and architraves; copper cornices, gutters 
and roof flashings; copper ridge and hip rolls and slate roof 
covering. ‘The floors of all regulator houses are made up of 
iron plates laid on rolled “I” beams, perforated plates being 
used over the dry or influent chambers, and solid plates 
over the wet: or -efiluentechampbers> =) The losseor beads 
gauges, which show automatically the difference of water 
levels over the sandbeds and in the effluent chambers, are 
mounted in the regulator houses. 


THE CLEAR-WATER BASIN. 
(Contract No. 16.) 


The clear-water basin, which receives the effluents from 
all the filters, is located at the southeast corner of Monu- 
ment Avenue and Ford Road. The basin measures inside 
on neat lines, 396 feet long by 382 feet 2 inches wide. This 
detail is constructed like the filters, with a concrete floor, 


39 


concrete piers to support the roof, and concrete groined 
arched vaulting, above which is placed a covering of earth 
about 24 inches thick at the crown of the arch. The puddle 
layer under the floor is 12 inches in thickness. Floor inverts, 
6 inches thick at the center and 14 inches thick under the 
pillars. The piers are plumb 22 inches square and 14 feet 4 
inches high. Depth of water, center of inverts to spring of 
arches, is 15 feet. Clear span of roof arches, 14 feet. Rise 
of arch, 3 feet. 

The filtered water is conducted to the clear-water basin 
through .a line of 48-inch cast-iron pipe in Monument 
Avenue, which enters the basin at the northeast corner. In 
the chamber where the influent pipe terminates, a 30-inch 
overflow pipe is located which will limit the depth of water 
in the basin to 15 feet r1oinches. The elevation of normal 
flow line in the basin is 23900 C.D., but this at times may be 
temporarily increased to 239°83 C.D. The flow line of the 
present George’s Hill Reservoir in the West Park is 21200 
C.D., so that the clear-water basin which in the future will 
furnish the head for the West Philadelphia lower service, 
is 27 feet higher than the old distributing reservoir. The 
Belmont clear-water basin will have a capacity at 15 feet 
depth of water of 16,500,000 gallons. 

In the plans provision has been made for the construction 
of another basin of the same capacity directly north of the 
basin shown, but it is possible that in the future operation 
of the works the additional basin may not be required for 
many years, certainly not until after the consumption of 
water from this station exceeds 60,000,000 gallons per 
day. 

The effluent from the basin is taken through a 48-inch 
cast-iron pipe located at the southwest corner, which leads 
into Monument Avenue, and is connected with a 48-inch 
line of pipe, known as line ‘*‘ kK,” and placed under Contract 
No. 19, which leads southward on Monument Avenue to 
Belmont Avenue, and on Belmont Avenue to Montgomery 
Avenue, where it is connected into the present rising pipes 
from Belmont Pumping Station to the George’s Hill Reser- 
voir. When the Belmont works are started, and the whole 


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supply of West Philadelphia is coming from the filters, the 
connection of the rising mains with the reservoir at George’s 
Hill will be cut out, and these pipes thereafter will form a 
part of the distribution system. Ample provision has been 
made at the intersection of the new mains from the clear- 
water basin with the old rising mains in Belmont Avenue 
at Montgomery Avenue, to prevent unfiltered water from 
the Schuylkill River mixing with the filtered water coming 
from the filter station. 

The effluent pipe starts in the floor of the clear-water 
basin with a bell-mouth casting to reduce the resistance of 
entry. 

Drains connected with the sewer in Monument Avenue 
are provided to permit of emptying and examining the basin. 
At such times a by-pass connection from the main effluent 
pipes in the court lying between the group of filters 7 to 12 
and 13 to 18, to the 48-inch distributing main in Monument 
Avenue, enables the filters to temporarily discharge their 
effluents directly into the distribution system. The only 
object in cutting out of service the clear-water basin will be 
to repair some damage, because it will only receive filtered 
water, and of course will never require cleaning. It is 
thought that this basin, after it is properly started in service, 
may never be taken out of service, excepting tests should 
be desired to prove its continued watertightness. 

The puddle lining under the floor and against the side 
and end walls to the extreme water line is sharply shown 
by /zg. 20. It is not admissible to pass the water which 
may percolate through the earth Alling over the clear-water 
basin into the basin to mix with the filtered water, and sub- 
soil drainage was therefore provided to remove this water 
and discharge it into the sewers. The spaces between the 
arches and over the piers were solidly rammed with a rich 
puddle to prevent water from flowing through the material 
and collecting over the haunches of the arches, and the sub- 
soil drains, shown, will remove the water of percolation 
through the earth fill down to the upper surface of the 
puddle and crowns of the arches. 

The upper surface of the fill is finished with a dressing 


42 


of topsoil and seeded to produce eventually a turf over the 
roof. All slopes of the clear-water basin and filters are 
sodded. A few ventilator openings are provided in the roof 
of the clear-water basin to furnish light and ventilation 
when required, the covers of which are securely locked to 
prevent intrusion by mischievous or curiously inclined 
persons. 


CLAY PUDDLE. 
(Contract No. 16.) 


The chief reliance for watertightness of the structures is 
placed in the clay puddle, which consisted, as manufactured 
for the Belmont works, of 50 per cent. by volume of clay 
and 50 per cent. by volume of ballast, which may be clean 
gravel or broken stone. The materials were mixed in hori- 
zontal screw-paddle pug mills, such as are used for temper- 
ing brick and tileclay. During the busiest part of the work, 
five of these machines were kept constantly in motion pre- 
paring puddle for the water tight linings of the reservoirs 
and filters, and for packing around such lines of pipes as 
were placed in embankment. 

The clay consisted of equal parts of a strong, heavy 
ferruginous clay obtained from Perth Amboy and Bruns- 
wick, in New Jersey, or from Charlestown, Maryland, and of 
a weak clay combined with small gravel obtained from 
Swedeland, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The heavy 
clay could not successfully be worked alone in the pug mill, 
and the weaker clay was added to assist in breaking up and 
tempering the heavy clay. The ballast generally was broken 
stone, which varied in size from } inch to 14 inch in diame- 
ters. Mixtures were sometimes made, consisting of I part 
by volume of the strong clay, 1 part of the weak clay mixed 
with gravel, and 1 part of ballast. 

The strong clay by rational analysis (Ulzer’s method), 
which wrought the separation of the silicate of alumina and 
iron from the insoluble silica and other substances, showed 
by weight from 60 to 70 per cent. silicate of iron and 
alumina, which was regarded as the clay constituent of the 
material, while the weaker clay showed by the same method 


43 


of test from 35 to 40 per cent. of silicate of alumina and 
iron as the clay constituent of the material. The mixture 
of clays usually yielded about 50 per cent. of the silicates of 
alumina and iron and 50 per cent. of silica and other insolu- 
ble substances. (A natural clay showing by weight about 
50 per cent. of the silicate of alumina and iron could be used 
alone in the manufacture of puddle.) Using equal parts of 
clay and ballast, gave a matrix for the ballast about 25 per 
cent. in excess of the voids in the mass of hard material. 
Many clays were examined for use in the puddle, varying 
from a micaceous loam to strong clays, and showing by uni- 
form method of rational test from 20 to 70 per cent. silicate 
of alumina andiron. In all cases it was assumed that the 
iron present in the clay was a valuable constituent of water- 
tight puddle. 

While the clay and ballast was being worked through 
the pug mill, water was added in quantity sufficient to make 
a plastic mixture. 

The puddle was placed in two or three layers of from 6 
to g inches and rolled in place to a thickness of 4 to 6 inches. 
Puddle linings varied from 12 to 18 inches in thickness, and 
were always placed in the workin from two to three separate 
layers of uniform thickness, each layer being rolled to a 
solid, dense mass having great sustaining power before the 
next layer was spread. The least thickness of puddle 
lining, when rolled or rammed to proper elevation, was 12 
inches. 

When the rolling of any layer of floor puddle under the 
basins or filters was finally completed, the puddle was as 
solid and almost as hard as new concrete. 

When rolling was inadmissible, as, for example, around 
the walls of the filter and the effluent and influent chambers 
and gate chambers, the puddle lining was used sometimes 
24 inches in horizontal thickness, and solidly rammed in thin 
layers. 

The value of the puddle asa water-tight lining for thin 
concrete sections, is shown by the following table contain- 
ing the leakage undera head of g feet of the accepted filters 
at Belmont: 


‘sadojs 10Asaser uo afppnd Suljoy— iz ‘oy 


- 


45 


Filter No. 1 . Leakage 970 gallons per day of twenty-four hours 
ce ac 3 ce 12, oe ¢ (as ec c¢ c¢ 
oe ¢ 4 é ; ‘ im 970 oe oe ce «¢ a c¢ 
Las ae ie 610 - cae ie te + 
de eG “ 243 i oS Bee ate ee Y 
oe ‘ S «¢ 566 a¢ ee ce ims oe oe 
YF Fda CYA. agi a 728 4 Sear tees ‘ * 
s Pi te ee Oe : 776 a ae Pe aes “ . 
ae Seer To ee ee “s 582 up aN Seg Die vy es 
os Sh ted ae ‘* 475 $ ae EMD gf Bs 
2s a TLL atures ye 868 Be me! ayaa es ye oe 
ws me yuige epa ee sf 849 ty 0 es eee i ve 


The standard of waterttghtness for the filters was a leak- 
age of not more than 1,000 gallons in twenty-four hours, 
corresponding to a loss, based on the daily capacity of the 
filter, of 0'0228 (or =) of I per cent. 

The puddle on the slopes of the sedimentation reservoir, 
which could not be rolled with ordinary grooved horse- 
rollers, or with the steam rollers used on the floors of the 
reservoir and filters, was rolled by the ingenious single 
horse-roller (Fzg. 27) improvised by Mr. Lawrence O'Toole, 
the foreman for the contractors, Messrs. Ryan & Kelley. 
This consisted of 36 inches of a 20-inch cast-iron water pipe 
filled with concrete, to give weight, and convert the pipe into 
aroller. Inthecenterof theconcrete an iron axle was fixed 
which turned on bearings provided in the lower ends of two 
standards bolted to the under side of the shafts at the rear. 
Wrought-iron bands were shrunk on the pipe to make a 
grooved roller. 

This apparatus, with the addition of a mule, constituted 
a roller which was worked around the slopes. The puddle 
was placed on the slopes in thin horizontal layers, and three 
of the “O'Toole” rollers were constantly worked over it. 

The puddle was rolled by six horse-rollers, varying from 
I to 5 tons in weight, and two steam rollers weighing 6 
and 74 tons respectively. The horse-rollers weighed each 
1,000 pounds per linear foot of roller and upwards, and the 
steam rollers weighed about 2,000 pounds per linear foot of 
roller. 


46 
CONCRETE. 
(Contract No. 16.) 


Nearly the entire masonry, including the reservoir floor 
and slope paving, and the paving in the courts, foundations 
of the buildings and sand washers, was built of Portland 
cement concrete. 

Concrete was used in the floors, piers and vaulting of the 
filters and in the clear-water basin; in the influent and effluent 
chambers, and everywhere within its adaptability, partly to 
facilitate the construction of the work, partly to economize 
in the cost, and partly to reduce the number of joints in the 
structures. If other material than concrete had been used 
in much of the work, the time and cost of construction would 
have been largely increased, with no corresponding advan- 
tage to the works. Seventy-four thousand barrels of Amer- 
ican Portland cement from the Star Bonneville, Lehigh and 
Atlas factories were used in the manufacture of concrete for 
Contract No. 16 alone, after the following proportions: 


Cement Dy volume sag coasts oa Bore ceo cal ore ee I part, 
Sand:-by: volonie-47.9—. oc egt seeas ue eres ae con Oe eee 3 parts, 
Ballast Dy;VoliMe ei a Rete. oe ae oe eee eee 5 parts. 


Six-inch concrete cubes were molded from day to day, 
and crushed at the end of 30, 60, go, 120, and 180 days, with 
the following results: 


Average of all the cubes at the end of 30 days, 1,781 Ibs. per sq. in. 


a a io 6007 8a Score. = 
- ce Hy OCT were ek as 
ue e ay 1204 2306205 he 
Be _ + In0..),. «2.-210—- 


Considering the go- and 120-day cubes, which best repre- 
sent the concrete before being subjected to external stresses, 
the average is over 2,000 pounds per square inch. Very 
rarely did the cubes fall below 1,200 pounds per square 
inch. 

Each cube was numbered and its location in the work 
entered in the records, and whenever any cube after 
ninety days’ time showed a crushing strength of less than 


47 


1,400 or 1,500 pounds per square inch, the concrete in the 
structures of which it was a sample was drilled or cut into 
to determine its hardness and density, and in no instance 
was the concrete found in such a condition as to raise a 
doubt of its quality. Excepting the arches in the vaulting 
of the filters and clear-water basin, the concrete is nowhere 
severely stressed, and concrete much weaker than that usu- 
ally employed in the construction of fire-proof floors, and 
steel-reinforced concrete beams, would meet all requirements 
of such work as that under consideration. 

The cement used in the manufacture of concrete was fur- 
nished under the following conditions: 


MPeciuc PlAvity NOmless (UAT wr s sea wea ne Sete per cent 
irenicssmetaimed sO IN O7150.StCVe qi-m = mara 8 ante - . Oper.cent. 
Ss x DE ESOL ENE. Oe 60 rd ey he ey a ee ae (ee 
: e io ZOOL erie CMe ad he a aa a Ae ye Pa 


Initial set (determined with a Vicat needle), not less than 20 minutes. 

Tensile strength of briquettes, consisting of one part cement, three parts 
standard quartz sand, one day in air and six days in water, 170 pounds per 
square inch ; one day in air and twenty-seven days in water, 240 pounds per 
square inch. 


The average of tensile strength for briquettes made of 
one part cement and three parts of standard quartz sand, as 
stated above, during the two years of construction work at 
Belmont, is about 200 pounds per square inch for seven days 
—one day in air and six days in water, and 300 pounds per 
square inch for twenty-eight days—one day in air and twen- 
ty-seven days in water. 

When the boiling test of cement was applied it was ex- 
pected to show no disintegration of the egg-shaped sample. 

No cement that failed to give the required strength at 
the end of seven days was allowed to go into the work for 
twenty-eight days, and if it failed to show the required 
strength at the end of twenty-eight days, it was rejected en- 
tirely, or its use was occasionally permitted at some point in 
the work where strength of concrete or mortar was not par- 
ticularly desired. 

The sand used in the manufacture of concrete was clean 
New Jersey bank sand; the ballast was broken limestone, 


48 


ranging in any dimension from 14 to + inch, thoroughly 
screened of finer materials. In the granolithic finish of con- 
crete work, the proportions were one part cement, one and 
one-half part clean New Jersey bank sand, and one and one- 
half part (liumestone screeninos: experiments mimi neue tty 
Laboratory having shown better results in point of strength 
for a mortar from limestone screenings than from quartz 
sand or New Jersey bank sand. 

The percentage of water used in mixing concrete varied 
{rom \15° Per Cents tOpLompch Cents  OlsLiemCGilicH (sent iic mii 
ballast by volume, 

In the cubical box mixers used in this work, after the 
sand and ballast were introduced into the box, the materials 
were turned from four to six times dry, and after the water 
was added the mixers were again turned from eighteen to 
twenty times. 

A small portion of the concrete was mixed in a horizontal 
knife mixer, the knives or paddles being so arranged that 
they worked the materials from the ends of the box to the 
center, where it was forced up and over the knives at the 
center to the ends of the box, and again forced from the 
ends to the center, and so on, until properly mixed. 

The capacity of. the concrete mixing machinery was 
limited, 16450, cubic, yards pers day, butsthevactwaliaterat 
which concrete was mixed and placed in the floors and 
slopes of the reservoir and in the floors of filters, and clear- 
water basin, was usually determined by the rate at which 
puddle could be, mixed, placedvand= rolled Wirectlysine 
puddle was finished at any point, concrete was immediately 
placed over it. 

In the floor sections of the filters on fill, expanded metal 
was freely used, so placed as to bond adjacent sections of 
concrete, and generally to strengthen that portion of the 
floor which it was assumed would be stressed by the loads 
the bases of the piers. 

Each pier in the clear-water basin sustains at its base a 
load of about 64 tons, spread over an assumed surface 
on the puddle lining under the concrete of about 17 square 
feet, or the unit load on so much of the floor inverts as are 


49 


supposed to resist and distribute the pier loads, is nearly 
four tons per square foot. The rolling of the subsoil or 
earth-fill preparatory to placing the puddle lining, and the 
subsequent rolling of the puddle, rendered this in all 
instances a good foundation for what are comparatively 
light loads. 

When the foundation (in the clear-water basin) was not 
satisfactory, concrete sub-piers three feet square, and from 
six to eight feet deep or high, carried up from solid ground 
or from a grillage to the under side of the puddle, were 
built; the whole load on the pier was thus transmitted 
through the puddle to the sub-pier below. 

The foundation under the concrete floors and the puddle 
lining was rolled with grooved rollers, weighing about 3,300 
pounds per foot width of roll. 

With the exception of the piers in one filter, all concrete 
was rammed and finished in place. In Filter No. 1 the 
piers were fabricated as monoliths and set by a derrick. 


ASPHALT RESERVOIR LINING. 


(Contract No. 16.) 


Over the concrete floor and on the slopes to a height 10 
feet vertical below the water line, as shown by /7gs. 22 and 23, 
a lining of asphalt 2inch thick was placed in two layers, each 
uniformly inch thick. Forseveral reasonsitis desirable that 
the subsidence basins be as nearly water-tight as such struc- 
tures, constructed partly in embankment, can be made, and 
in addition to the outer lining of 18 inches of puddle and 6 
inches ot concrete floor and slope paving, it was deemed ad- 
visable to line the floor and slopes with an impervious coat 
of asphalt. 

Two mixtures of asphalt were used, one containing the 
larger percentage of bitumen on the floor and first coat on 
the slopes, and the other, slightly lower in bitumen, ir the 
second or finishing coat on the slopes. 

The mixture of Neufchatel or Seyssel asphalt, Bermudez 
asphalt and grit, as specified in the contract, should contain 
about 18 per cent. of pure bitumen, but tests early indicated 


All 


‘S11OAdaS01 JO SIOOY UO Buruty yeydse Surse[g—ez “iy 


‘WOAIOHOL JO sedole HO Saray ypuydey Aupoup_p "Le ons 


BAe RE 


Ps a 


52 


that such a mixture was too soft for use on the slopes, and 
probably not superior as a water-tight lining on the floors 
of the basins, and, under the provision of the specification, 
the percentage of bitumen was accordingly decreased. 

The several mixtures tested contained as an average the 
following weight of materials for each batch that went into 
the kettle. 


ASPHALT MIXTURE USED ON THE FLOOR OF RESERVOIR AND IN THE FIRST 
LAYER ON SLOPE. 
585 pounds Seyssel mastic. 
315 pounds grit. 
50 pounds refined Trinidad asphalt. 
50 pounds refined Bermudez asphalt. 


ASPHALT MIXTURE USED IN SECOND LAYER ON SLOPES OF RESERVOIR. 
5.8 pounds Seyssel mastic. 
332 pounds grit. 
33 pounds refined Trinidad asphalt. 
37 pounds refined Bermudez asphalt. 


The above mixture gave an average of 15°5 percent. of bitu- 
men for the lining on the floor and first layer on the slopes, 
and 13°2 per cent. of bitumen for the second layer on the 
slopes, the latter, of course, requiring a stiffer mixure to pre- 
vent or limit the creeping by action of the sun’s rays, and 
likewise, of course, to avoid cracking due to the influence of 
the frost. 

On the floor of the basins, the asphalt was laid on the 
smooth concrete, but on the slopes the concrete was rough- 
ened by indenting grooves 4 inch deep and 2inch wide, 
spaced about 4 inches center from the toe to ate top of the 
asphalt line, to secure the asphalt against slipping or creep- 
ing on the concrete. 

The watertightness of the asphalt, concrete na puddle 
in the reservoirs is still to be tested, but I have no doubt 
that they will be as near water-tight as structures as large 
as these can very well be made. Generally, of course, we 
cannot expect earthen embankments, however carefully they 
may be lined with impervious materials, to be absolutely 
water-tight, but I anticipate that the measured leakage of 


53 
these basins will show such a small percentage of loss as to 
indicate practical watertightness. 

It is possible that the asphalt lining might have been 
omitted without seriously affecting the watertightness of 
the reservoir; but, considering the height to which the water 
is pumped from the Schuylkill River, and the nature of the 
surroundings, it was thought wise to omit no precautions to 
insure the nearest approach to absolute watertightness of 
the structure. 


ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. 
(Contract No. 42.) 


The Administration Building, Figs. 24 and 25, is located 
on the west side of the main court, between Filter No. 6 and 
the first installation of preliminary filters, and contains on 
the ground fioor a boiler-room, engine- or pump-room, an 
office and a shelter and locker-room for the men employed 
about the station. 

The second floor over the office will be fitted up fora 
laboratory for the technical examination of water samples 
from these and the Roxborough filters, and the basement 
under the office end of the building will be used as a store- 
toom for tools and supplies. 

In the pump-room are placed (under Contract No. 40-A)a 
set of centrifugal pumps to supply subsided water to the 
preliminary filter-house to wash the sandbed, and, if desired, 
also to draw off the water from above the sandbeds of low- 
level filters, and pump it into the supply pipes of high-level 
filters (thus avoiding the waste to the sewers of pre-filtered 
water); a set of duplex direct-acting pumps (furnished 
under Contract No. 40-B) to take water from the main 
effluent pipes of the filters, and pump under pressure of 80 
to 90 pounds to the sand ejectors and sand washers; and the 
driving engines, electrical generators and main switchboard 
(furnished under Contract No. 46) for the electric lighting 
equipment of the works. 

The boiler-room contains four internally-fired marine 
boilers, each of 200 commercial horse-power capacity. The 
steam power developed will be used partly to pump wash- 


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56 


water to the preliminary filters, partly to pump water to the 
sand ejectors and washers, and partly to furnish the electric- 
lighting service for the station, and finally for steam heating 
Otethe butidinons a. sg 

A.“ Custodis* chimneéy,95 feet Ginches diametctwresercer 
high, is erected at the south end of the Administration 
Building. 

Fig. 25 shows the east and north elevations of the build- 
ing. Good lines and substantial construction are the sole 
objects sought in this detail of the work. Referring to the 
left end of the front elevation, it will be noticed that the 
large windows in the rear wall of the boiler-room opposite 
the boilers, are arranged for complete removal, to permit of 
taking out or putting in boilers without injury to the brick- 
work or finish of the room. 

The architectural features of the Administration Build- 
ing are intended to match with the regulator and gate- 
houses about the filters. 


HAND-TRAVELING CRANE. 
(Contract No. 65.) 


In the pump-room of the Administration Building will be 
placed a 6-ton hand-traveling crane to facilitate the erection 
of the pumping and electrical machinery, and for use in 
making the usual adjustments anc repairs to the machinery. 


SAND EJECTORS AND.WASHERS. 
(Contract No. 63—For sand washers only.) 


The Belmont station will be equipped with four portable 
sand ejectors, and eight stationary sand washers, the latter 
located in the courts convenient to two or more filters. 

The sand ejector, as shown in 7g. 26, consists of the well- 
known Korting ejector, mounted in the bottom of a metal 
hopper. ‘Two lines of waterpipe are connected by ordinary 
fire hose, with the nozzle and throat extensions, one to sup- 
ply water under pressure to operate the ejector, and the 
other to conduct the mixed sand and water from the ejector 


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59 


to the washer located in the court outside the filter. The 
water is brought to the ejector through a 24-inch line of 
hose, and the mixed sand and water taken to the washers 
through a line of 3-inch hose. 

A similar device has been used at the East London 
Waterworks for several years with excellent success in the 
rapidity and cost of transporting and washing the sand. 

In the construction adopted by the Bureau of Filtration, 
the entire apparatus, as shown, weighs about 160 pounds, 
and two men can readily lift and carry the ejector from place 
to place in the filters convenient to the connections for the 
supply of water to the apparatus, and for the removal of the 
mixed discharge to the washers. 

In practice the sand is scraped in a heap in each bay of 
the filter, and the ejector located so as to command at one 
setting twelve or more heaps. When placed in position the 
services of two men are required to feed the scraped sand to 
iieseeClor. 

One ejector will easily throw out from the filter to the 
washer from 6 to 8 cubic yards of dirty sand per hour. The 
ejector not only transports the sand to the washer, but, dur- 
ing the trip through the discharge pipe, about one-half of 
the washing process is accomplished by the time the sand 
arrives at the washer. 

The little ejector, shown in zg. 27, with the services of 
two men to supply the sand, and a foreman to connect and 
disconnect the lines of hose to the water supply and dis- 
charge pipes, will accomplish in the same length of time 
the work of over twenty men with wheelbarrows. 

The lines of wrought-iron water and discharge pipes are 
suspended by ordinary pipe hangers from the ventilator 
openings in the roof vaulting, and by standards resting on 
the “I” beams of the sand runs, with tees and nipples, as 
shown in /7g. 25, for the attachment of the lines of hose. At 
Upper Roxborough, and in due time at the other stations, 
these outlets in the waterpipes have been provided with 
gate stop-valves to reduce the time required to shift and 
connect up the ejector as it is moved from place to place in 
the tlter 


‘3sn oj dn pajdnod s0z;efa pues sfqej0g—'gz “ONT 


‘IaYSeM pues Jo ue[q@—‘6z “OT 


62 


The consumption of water by the ejector is recorded by 
a 3-inch ‘‘Gem” meter placed on the water-supply pipe. 

Fig. 29 shows in plan and section the type of sand washer 
adopted for the Philadelphia filters. This washer consists 
of aseries of hoppers, each about 36 inches square at the 
top, into which is discharged the partially washed sand 
from the ejectors, where the ejector of the Korting pattern 
in the base of the hopper picks up the sand and lifts it into 
the trough, through which the water and sand flow over 
low baffles into the next hopper of the series. With the 
washing which takes place in the discharge pipes of the 
ejectors, two or three hoppers of the washer will suffice for 
the proper washing of the sand. From the last hopper of the 
series, the sand is discharged through a line of wrought-iron 
pipe to the sand piles in the court. The sand-discharge 
pipe is provided with a swivel joint, which allows the pipe 
to be swept through a wide arc over the sand piles. 

Each hopper at one side at the upper edge is cut down 
for its full width to form a weir over which the dirty water 
flows into channels alongside the washer. Baffles are 
arranged in the channels, which are intended to intercept 
the sand, while allowing the dirty wash-water to flow away 
to the sewer. 

This washer originated in the Hamburg waterworks, and 
is there known as the “Schroeder” washer. Each washer 
is equipped with a “Gem” meter to measure and record 
the consumption of water. 

At Lower Roxborough the sand washers were placed in 
houses constructed in the courts, but at Upper Roxborough 
and at Belmont the washers are set in the courts without 
houses, with the upper edges of the hoppers about flush 
with the granolithic pavement. 

fig. 30 shows one of the washers set in the court at 
Upper Roxborough, and the Belmont washers are being 
constructed in the same way. The open arrangement of 
the washers gives greater facility in their adjustment and 
use, and since no manual labor is required at the washer, 
except to adjust it occasionally and to distribute the washed 
sand over the piles in the court, no advantage was found 


‘sIoTJSeM pus YSno10qxoy seddq—of “S14 


64 


in the use:of houses; such as “were sputeunp ovitu stucmurco 
washers at Lower Roxborough. 

In operation the partially washed sand from the ejector 
working inside the filter is delivered into the galvanized 
iron trough shown at the left of the washer. Excepting 
the length of fire hose used to connect the ejector with the 
waterpipes in the filter, all other lines of pipe to the washer 
and to the sand pile are made of ordinary wrought-iron 
steam or gas pipe with flange joints. 

Two sand ejectors and one washer combined will trans- 
port and wash from twelve to fifteen cubic yards of sand per 
hour, with an expenditure of 2,400 gallons of water per 
cubic yard of sand washed, and at a cost ranging from 
forty-four cents to sixty cents per cubic yard of sand for 
scraping, transporting and washing. Reduce this to gallons 
per cubic yard, the cost per million gallons for scraping, 
transporting and washing sand, after the mechanical appli- 
ances are properly adjusted, ranges from sixty-one cents to 
eighty-four cents per million gallons of water filtered. 


ELECTRIC LIGHTING SYSTEM. 
(Contract No. 46.) 


The electric lighting machinery consists of two direct- 
current, constant-potential, compound-wound six-pole gen- 
erators (to be furnished by the Fort Wayne Electric Com- 
pany), each having acapacity at 275 revolutions per minute 
of 374 kilowatts at a potential of 225 volts at the switch- 
board in the engine-house, driven by two horizontal, self- 
oiling, center crank, sdirect iconnectedsencines (to, pe. tur 
nished by the Watertown Engine Company, Watertown, 
N. Y.). The engines will work under a steam pressure of 
125 pounds per square inch at the throttle. 

The current from the generators is carried to the Admin- 
istration Building, preliminary filters, regulator houses 
atthe filters into etic. nilerssfo  theavalcanoiuccs@o itlcs 
sedimentation and clear-water basins, and to ten enclosed 
arc lamps placed on iron poles in the courts between the 
filters. 

Each filter is equipped with 148 16-candle-power incan- 


65 


descent lamps. ‘The double regulator houses are provided 
with six lamps, and each single regulator house is provided 
with four lamps. 

biesclectiicalatips in tne filters willebe used when it 
becomes necessary to perform some operation connected 
with the scraping, removal or restoration of the sand during: 
the most severe weather of the winter, or at night time’ in 
case of emergency; and to guard against unusual delay, 
when filters are taken out of service, it was deemed wise to 
equip each filter with a system of lamps to admit of the 
work going on during any kind of weather day or night, 
with the ventilator covers in place, should the service at any 
time demand it. The Administration Building, preliminary 
filters, regulator houses of the filters and the gate houses 
of the reservoir will be illuminated nightly. 


CAPACITY “AND COST OF THE BELMONT WORKS. 


The following table contains the several details and con- 
tracts entering into the construction of the Belmont works 
of filtration, not including real estate or extension of the 
pipe system for the distribution of the filtered water: 


Contract No. 16. Sedimentation basins ....... . . « $670,000 00 
Clear-water basin. . . rae tel : 260,000 0O 
Eighteen plain sand Renee 0S; ver » + 999,000 00 
Contingencies (incurred and ceed) Sei 71,000 00 
Contract No. 38. Preliminary filters (estimated). . . ee 160,000 00 
Contract No. 4o-A. Centrifugal pumping HONG ae ae 7,3GO OO 
Contract No.40-B. Direct-acting pumping pagel ts and 
steam boilers ... . 29,000 00 
Contract No. 42. Administration Building thie pumping 
Stationeenerne oy 55,000 OO 
Contract No. 46. Electric-lighting eystcrs an Rea eu ete 20,000 00 
Contract No. 49. Lateral collectors, underdrains and filter- 
ing materials . . ee eee ate 305,000.00 
Contract No. 63. SANGAWHASHCES meena Sor min siinMel as | ind ni). <1 6,800 00 
Contract No. 65. Hand-traveling crane .. . he 2,700 OO 
Contract No. 67. Preliminary filter house (elcfiatedy: eae 70,000 0O 
LOLA COSU eet ao yhear ea aO wa Fe slate come ah os eet Re dee Oh p dP ve $2,715,800 00 


This shows that the cost, based upon an immediate 
capacity of 40,000,000 gallons of filtered water per day, 
amounts to $2,715,800, or $67,895 per million gallons. 


5| 


66 


In addition to the items mentioned above entering into 
the improvement of the works of water supply for West 
Philadelphia, over $1,300,000 has been expended for land 
for the filtration works, new pumping machinery, new engine 
and boiler house and electric lighting machinery and equip- 
ment at the Belmont pumping station; new rising pipes 
to the sedimentation reservoir, mentioned in this paper, and 
for extension of the pipe system. 

The relative cost of the Belmont works, population con- 
sidered, is greater than the Roxborough and Torresdale 
works for the supply of that part of the city lying between 
the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. 

Thus the per capita cost of the Belmont improvements 
is in round numbers $23.53, while the per capita cost of the 
combined Roxborough and Torresdale works is $17.07. 

The next step in the enlargement of the Belmont works 
will be to increase the capacity of the preliminary filters to 
65,000,000 gallons per day, instead of 40,000,000 gallons per 
day as now designed. The total cost then becomes $2,865,- 
800, or a cost per million gallons capacity of $44,087.90. 

The ultimate capacity of the Belmont works, according 
to the studies of the Bureau of Filtration, will be 95,000,000 
gallons per day of twenty-four hours, requiring an increase of 
the plain sand filters from eighteen to twenty-six (land for 
this purpose being available at the south end of the property 
taken by the city) and an increase of the preliminary filters 
from 65,000,000 to 95,000,000 gallons per day, making the 
total ultimate cost $3,489,800, or a cost per million gallons 
daily capacity of $36,734.70. 

The present population of West Philadelphia is assumed 
to be 170,000, and the present consumption about 185 gallons 
per capita per day. If this rate of consumption continues 
the present capacity of the works willbe: suihcient for 
216,000 people, or, according to the population curve for 
West Philadelphia, until 1912, and the capacity of the works 
when increased to 65,000,000 gallons per day will serve 
350,000 people, which population should be reached by 
1930, and with an addition of eight plain sand filters and a 
further increase of 30,000,000 gallons in the preliminary 


67 


filters, the works will serve a population of over 500,000 
people, which population by the curve will be attained by 
1945. 

Assuming an allowance of 150 gallons per capita per day, 
the total population to be supplied and the cost per capita 
of population is shown in the following table: 


For 40,000,000 gallons daily, 266,666 population, $10.15 cost per capita. 
mt 5;000, 0007 a, ie SEY Le) 6 6.65  « & 
*€ 95,000,000 es af eRe ves 66 Wve Ah ‘ 6 


The dimensions and all material features of construction 
of the Belmont filters are substantially the same as for the 
Upper Roxborough filters; the source of raw water (the 
Schuylkill River) is alike for both. At this date no filters 
have been put in operation at Belmont, and it is therefore 
impossible to present the results of operation. In lieu thereof 
I am compelled to submit figures showing the performance 
of the different filters at Upper Roxborough since starting, 
July 3d of this year, which can safely be accepted as an 
index of what the Belmont filters will do when put in 
SCHEV ICE: 

In the following averages, and highest and lowest bac- 
terial and chemical results, the first two weeks of perform- 
ance of the filters is omitted. The experience abroad with 
plain sand filters indicates that from two to three months’ 
time is required before the filters are in fair working service. 
At Upper Roxborough, however, with one or two exceptions, 
every filter was delivering an entirely satisfactory water 
within two weeks of the time it was started. 


SCHUYLKILL RIVER AT SHAWMONT. 


Oxy- 
gen 
Week ending Bac- Turbid- Free Alb. Ni- Ni- con- Chlo- 
1903. teria. ity. Amm. Amm. trites. trates. sumed. rine. Iron. 
July 4, 26,000 60 
oA it i 25,000 100 053 "I59 °OI4 “7 5eee 2 OS). 5a wee Oo 
ee i tey 14,000 25 
eu r253 33,000 170 "089 EC GTO Lo | dowd as 
PUG veils 16,000 26 
es 8, 42,000 38 "095 308) “Oro ZA aA ke a Saw 
ET 36,000 30 "064 TO2e O10 ch A Nasco eye POY. Ihe! 
S22" 23,000 26 *046 E24 mamnast) U3 Wk te Lei 


See 29; 29,000 20 ‘Od Dvr toy © (OSLO Sos 2587 "90 


Week ending  Bac- 


1¢03. 
Sept. 5, 


Octs.773; 
Highest, 
Lowest, 

Average, 


Gly sa 
6c Yate 
“ 18, 


25) 


OCte ss. 
Highest, 
Lowest, 
Averages, 


Octin a) 
Highest, 
Lowest, 
Average, 


terias 
36,009 
18,000 
18,000 
26,000 
43,000 
43,000 
14,009 
27,500 


18,000 
760 
325 
510 

2,300 
559 
860 
830 
540 
860 
82c 
759 
780 

1,200 

18,000 
325 
2,077 


Turbid- 
ity. 
34 
28 
2t 
24 
2 
170 


Free 


Amm. 


SOT 
cay 
‘018 
"034 
‘OI4 
‘TO! 
‘OI4 
°053 


68 


Alb. — Ni- 
Amm. trites. 
“161 Olt 
2 Gk Fa) bed 
‘OV Ome OLS, 
PR ee PS 
"103 Oui 
*215 "O15 
‘O7on 1s0LO 
Ret .OII 


APPLIED WATER. 


dO 
O 


SOCOCOOH A HHHHH 
+++ 


db oO 


038 
‘O61 
"059 
7058 


029 


“O23 


034 
°043 
°035 
030 
*O61 
to22 
‘O41 


"IAI 026 
‘108 °040 
aitey | Sece: 

‘O22 
‘070 we cOL2 

‘O10 
"088 = *008 

OIO 
SLITS ae OL4 
(O00 es 
torcee OM Zep ee 
‘ODL OL 2 
"I4I *oO4o 
‘07041 OUS 
<tT4 solo 


FILTER NO. I. 


(First week of service.) 


"004 
‘O61 


‘004 


‘004 


“OO! 


‘002 


"006 


“002 


‘o61 


“OOI 


‘OIO 


0°67) "2000 
‘108 = *o4o 
[O70 ROOT 
‘058 = ‘COI 
(O28 OOO 


*c48 ‘000 


"056 ‘ooo 


*O0CO 
"O51 ‘000 
*00O 
STOO m sesO4e) 
£0397 he OOO 
05 37 0S 


Ni- 
trates. 


| 


Oxy- 
gen 
con- 
sumed. 
4°55 
220s 
I‘40 
2°60 
2526 
Gai 
I°4o 
2°75 


Noo 
O=® 
Oc 


4°8 


4°8 


Tron. 
1°88 
1‘16 
88 
96 
67 
2210 
67 
Leg 


1°26 
7a 


65 


"30 


"48 


720 
30 
°68 


74 


69 


FILTER NO. 
Week ending Bac- Turbid- Free Alb. 
1903. i(nty thee Amm. Amm., 
July 18, 3,300 5 ‘0235 O78 
(First week of service) 
Me PIS 63 5 "002 = ‘066 
Ug om. a7 4 [O22 a O75 
Serge, 13 3 
a te 10 2 (ene Maye! 
Eo dp 12 I 
aS oleh 8 I ‘OOI = “O51 
SEDLE5s Bo I 
td bee 21 I (COG m= O50 
te Sige 170 oO 
eae, 17 o+ "047 
Oct-32, 9 o+ 
Highest, 170 4 [03 20aN O75 
Lowest, 8 oO ‘col | 7-047, 
Average, 33 I+ ‘007 °049 
FILTER NO. 
July 4, 360 2 (First week 
oe 240 2 004 « °067 
poe co; 15 2 POLO a - CO 
ip eons 16 I ‘002. ‘050 
Oe 12 I (006) =CO3 
SS arer 9 2 
LN oe 9 I ‘OOI ‘046 
ce 22. 5 it 
eae? Oy 7 L ‘002 ‘046 
Septes; 19 I 
Ley y 30 On Ol sen O5 x 
ee} 14 o+ “O51 
he aXe, 29 o+ .004 ‘°052 
OCiars, 14 fe) 
Highest, 30 2 “O16, § -°053 
Lowest, 5 O 7OOL «= ‘046 
Average, 15 ii foo5 §=—s- °048 
FILTER NO. 
Aug. 8, 1,600 6 (First week 
ae Dae IIO 9 SOO? ar 057 
‘c 22, 70 ii 
p29; aI 2 ‘OOI "O44 
Sept. 5, 1@) 2 ; 
m2 12 I ‘006-058 
LO, 29 I "056 
rr OF 32 o+ ‘002 ‘0438 


os: 
Ni- Ni- 
trites. trates. 
"002 
‘000 88 
"002 ‘961 
“000 "701 
"80 
‘000 “76 
‘000 top. 
"000 °88 
*000 °76 
"002 96 
‘000 ‘70 
‘000 "74 
Si 
of service. ) 
‘000 "94 
‘Odas = 1°06 
‘000 Aa 
‘000 "92 
°88 
‘000 "76 
82 
"000 °76 
76 
“000 ‘92 
‘000 ‘90 
7000.~—Sss«sI04 
‘000 $8 
(O02) e100, 
‘000 Ty]: 
‘000 °88 
4. 
of service. ) 
‘Onna 7A 
.80 
"COO 1742 
‘So 
"000 "92 
"000 °88 
"000 "86 


Oxy- 
gen 
con- Chlo- 
sumed. rine. Iron. 
I°gO 
1°45 
“Jo 


1K@) 


“90 


I'05 


1°70 
eae 
a fs 


Week ending 


1993, 


Lowest, 
Average, 


Bac- 
teria. 


170 
170 
12 
51 


ity. 


399 
410 


I2 
2 
18 

Out of service. 


99 


1,500 
740 


Turbid- Free 


7O 


Alb. 
Amm. 


‘058 


‘044 
"052 


Ni- 
trites. 


“O00 
“000 
“COO 


FILTER NO. 5. 


‘069 


‘074 
"033 
"046 


“OOO 


FILTER NO. 6. 


Amm. 
o + 
7 "006 
o-+ ‘oor 
2 "002 
5 
6 003 
4 "009 
3 "004 
3 ‘007 
2 
2 ‘OO! 
I 
I ‘002 
I 
I 
o+ ‘oor 
OO 
4 “009 
o+ ‘oor 
2 003 
4 
6 ‘006 
5 “005 
4 ‘008 
2 “004 
2 
I ‘002 
I 
I “OOI 
I 
I 
o-+ ‘oor 
o + ‘oo! 
0:75 
5 ‘008 
o+ ‘oor 
2 "003 


"076 
‘067 
"074 
"062 


F053 


"024 


"035 
"044 


"076 
.024 
"045 


“COO 


“OOO 


“OO! 


‘O00 
“O00 
“O00 
‘OorI 
“OOO 
“OOO 


Ni- 
trates. 


"92 
je 
"83 


(First week of service.) 


92 


(First week of service.) 


Oxy- 
en 
con- 


sumed. 


1°70 


WF 


II5 


lo om 


on on 
. 


pe SS He 
| a Se ee ee 


Chlo- 
rine. 


Iron. 


Week ending 


1903. 
July 4, 
SEES 08 
“s 18, 
vores 
Aug. I, 
ia 8, 
66 ¥5; 
iad 22 
“29, 
Sept. 5, 
“ce 2 
peak9, 
«e 26, 
ICES, 2's 
Highest, 
Lowest, 
Average, 
July 4, 
AAG @ 
“ce 18, 
af 25; 
Aug. I, 
«¢ 8, 
“6 55. 
cane 22 
“29, 
SeDtss, 
ind Et 
“19, 
ae 203 
Oct. 3, 
Highest, 
Lowest, 
Average, 
US ee, 
‘6 8, 
eet, 
e122, 
“29, 


Bac- 


teria. 


160 
550 


71 


FILTER NO. 7. 


Turbid- Free Alb. Ni- — Ni- 

ity. Amm. Amm. ttrites. trates. 
4 (First week of service. ) 
6 “004 ‘068 = 000 96 
5 ‘008 ‘069 = ‘002 “98 
a ‘002 "058 ‘000 ‘80 
5 "004 "070 + 8=‘*COO "84 
= "82 
2 "002 056 ‘000 "82 
2 "84 
I 
I 76 
I .016 "062 = =*000 "84 
I .002 .O4—  *O00 "82 
I "002 "044 ‘000 ‘92 
I *000 82 
5 *008 ‘070 = 002 98 
I *002 ‘O4I "000 WA 
2 "005 ‘050 ~=*000 84 

FILTER NO. 8, 

2 (First week of service.) 
4 "004 ‘064 ‘000 *90 
2 "O14 ‘066 ‘000 I°*00 
I ‘004 "045  *OoOo *80 
I "004 ‘063 =*000 "94 
I "82 
I ‘OOI ‘044. ‘000 "82 
I 88 
I 
I 92 
I .002 059 ‘000 "88 
Oe 
o+ ‘040 *000 *88 
o+ 000 78 
2 ‘Old 7006, 7 O00, *1*00 
o + ‘oor ‘040 ‘000 ee. 
I “003 A 5) me OOd or 


CLEAR-WATER BASIN. 


3 
3 
3 "002 "044 °000 472 
2 80 
I ‘OO! "054 “000 *80 
I 


Oxy- 
gen 
con- 
sumed. 


|e fs 
1°35 
1°40 
7h) 


135 


| 
Tne) 
wm Oo 


Chlo- 
rine. 


4°2 


Iron. 


Gf 2 
/- 


CLEAR-WATER BASIN. 


Oxy- 
gen 
Week ending Bac- Turbid- Free Alb. Ni- Ni- con- Chlo. 
1903. teria. ity. .Amim, Amm. trites. trates. sumed. rine. Iron. 
Depts: AI I "003 045 ‘*oco Petey MO eke. ‘09 
paw LO; 42 I 059. 7000 *94— “90 
nO: 24 o -+- ‘oor ‘O4I ‘oco SO ew OO amt y 
OCtwiass: 15 o + ‘002 104.32 9 “080 tele ere Peed 
Highest, 140 3 003 "059 ~=*000 Od eel O5m ard -7, ‘09 
Lowest, 15 o-+ ‘ool ‘O4I ‘000 Po: (OO mana 2 ‘05 
Average, 40 I ‘Oo! "047 ‘000 Hep etapa dey ere ‘O7 


The sedimentation reservoirs, filters and clear-water basin 
for the Belmont works were bid for at lump-sum prices for 
each item, and for purpose of current estimates the unit 
prices in the following table were adopted: 


PRINCIPAL, QUANTITIES—BELMONT. 
Unit prices 
for current 


Quantities. Items. estimates. 
550,010 Cubic yards Excavation (unclassified) .... . $I 06 
319,420 Ss Embankment and top soil... . . 50 
22,150 Square feet Granolithic-pavement?.. =... 5 I 50 
3,021 (LouSm oe, HLubeandtspisotpipcam ern 41 00 
419 Me Hub and spigot specials... ... 94 40 
aoe iy Flange.cpecials ae see eee nee ae 100 0O 
261 Stop and check valves (various sizes) 
69,600 Cubic yards PHO e Ae ieee eas eee ere 2 50 
71,150 oe Concrete a5 5 eens ee eee ee 6 CO 
47,800 Square yards Asphalthiining i, a een pee I 0O 
64,250 Pounds Cast-irou: fixturesiew (05/450 eee 02 
523,400 ee Steel Re oS gers re ee A 03 
197,2CO Square feet Hxpandedsmictalieerss 6 eee 15 


The contractors for the Belmont Works, Contract No. 
16, sedimentation basin, filters and clear-water reservoir, 
were Messrs. Ryan & Kelley, of Philadelphia, with the 
Vulcanite Paving Company, of Philadelphia, sub-contractor 
for the concrete and asphalt work; R. D. Wood & Co., of 
Philadelphia, sub-contractors for cast-iron waterpipe and 
special castings; the Ludlow Valve Company, of Troy, 
N. Y., sub-contractor for stop, check and regulating valves 
and loss of head gauges; and the American Bridge Com- 
pany, of Philadelphia, sub-contractor for structural steel- 
work, 


16: 


Contract No. 40o-A. Centrifugal Pumping Machinery, R. D. Wood & 
Co., Philadelphia, contractors. 

Contract No. 40-B. Sand Washer Pumps and Boilers, I. P. Morris 
Company, Philadelphia, contractor. 

Contract No. 42. Administration Building and Pumping Station, 
Harry B. Shoemaker & Co., Philadelphia, con- 
tractors. 

Contract No. 46. Electric Lighting System, Pennsylvania Equip- 
ment Company, Philadelphia, contractor. 

Contract No. 49. Filtering Materials and Underdrains, Daniel J. 
McNichol, Philadelphia, contractor. 

Contract No. 63. Sand Washers, P. Gormly, Philadelphia, con- 
tractor. 

Contract No. 65. Hand-Traveling Crane, Alfred Box & Co., Phil- 
adelphia, contractors. 


ie, Oroinaimencineer Held ,corps sin charse- of (these 
works was formed with Mr. La Monte Lloyd as first assist- 
ant engineer in charge, and Mr. Thomas McE. Vickers, 
Mr. Charles H. Paul and Mr. Seth M. Van Loan second 
assistant engineers. 

On the ist of February, 1903, Mr. Lloyd was assigned to 
office duty in the City Hall, and Mr. Paul was promoted to 
first assistant engineer in charge of all Belmont contracts, 
with Mr. J. Lee Allen as second assistant engineer, and 
Mr. Robley A. Warner as third assistant engineer. 

During the progress of the work, Mr. Vickers resigned, and 
Mr. Van Loan was assigned as first assistant engineer in 
charge of Contract No. 28—Lardner’s Point Pipe Distri- 
bution System. 

The cost of the engineering and inspection of this work, 
not including the work performed in the City Hall, in the 
preparation of plans, estimates, etc., will be, when com- 
pleted, about 2°08 per cent. 

(Phestotalstine required, to complete the: work will repre- 
sent about three years. 

The first contract, Contract No, 16, Messrs. Ryan & Kel- 
ley, contractors, was started about the 1st of July, 1901, and 
excepting for unusual causes of delay the entire work should 
be completed by July, 1904. The average force employed 
by the contractors during good weather ranged from 800 to 
1,000 men. 

6]| 


iu J Ane 
ieee Ne 


1 
Dh Se 
a “hep? a 
1 ‘a 


HINO 


3 0112 11547395 


